The Next Step.

     Even before last Tuesday's historic (and apparently, highly predictable) election, Republicans were doing some soul-searching regarding the fate of their party. Although many ultra-conservatives had all but jumped ship on the announcement of Sen. McCain as the 2008 candidate, by the time election week had rolled around, many GOP diehards were wondering if the party didn't take a wrong turn sometime before that. My classmate's article "Where to From Here?" examines the GOP's recent stock-taking and reassessment of their goals for the 2008 elections. He explores all the seats of power that the Republicans stood to lose besides just the much-focused-on presidency, and he makes a convincing argument that the GOP really needs a priority check.

     Seeing as his audience is our diverse little group of students, Mr. Lazarski takes a very reasonable approach to his commentary, neither inflammatory nor weak, which seems to fit his self-described moderate views. Avoiding the high emotions that surround the Bush administration, he takes a calm look at the fact that President Bush's ratings have dropped drastically over his final term. As much as some conservatives would like to deny it (my Fox News-devoted uncle claims that Mr. Bush will later be recognized as one of the greatest presidents in our history), the simple truth is that even many who supported Mr. Bush is 2000 and in 2004 are weary of his policies and missteps. Mr. Lazarski uses this dissolution as the basis of his argument that the Republican party started changing their focus long before Sen. McCain or Gov. Palin stepped on the scene.

     Mr. Lazarski is asking a question that many conservatives have been asking for a long time. In hindsight, his points about the Congressional races were fairly prescient, showing that the polls were spot on (or that Democrats won so overwhelmingly as to negate any margin of error). However, even before this transfer of power, his argument was correct. Even without this election and the resulting stark evidence of the waning influence of the GOP, Mr. Lazarski's call for reevaluation carries much validity.

     Concerning the implications of this argument, I am less certain. This realignment shows the failed mentality of the GOP in recent years, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? In light of this recent moderate stance of Republicans like Mr. McCain, will the GOP backlash and revert to its super-conservative, evangelical views of the 80s? And a Democratic monopoly is equally prey to the stagnating effects of incumbent power; will we be saying the same things about them in 4 to 8 years? Whether or not the Republicans recognize it, continual examination of priorities is a good thing--to keep the party on track and in line with the views of its constituents. Of course, I do still fear the results of this priority check within GOP ranks. One can only wonder if the 2012 ticket will be Palin/Joe the Plumber, spreading their real-America, religious, free-market values across our land. Until that time, I'll hold my breath and hope that President-elect Obama does not do to the Democrats what President Bush has done to the GOP. Good luck, President-elect.